2007年VOA标准英语-Critics Say Understaffed AU Force Unable to Pro

By Noel King
Kutum, Sudan
07 March 2007

The African Union mission, charged with monitoring Sudan's Darfur region, shoulders the enormous burden of providing security to some 2.5 million displaced people spread across a remote area the size of France. The AU has, at most, about 7,000 troops in the region. When the AU mission comes under attack, it is the displaced that suffer most.

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Sudanese refugee woman hold a sign saying no to rape (File photo)

Critics of the African Union have long said the mission is unable to provide security to Darfur's millions of internally displaced people, known a IDP's.

As the conflict rages on, the AU's most vocal² critics are often the IDP's, themselves, who say the AU simply cannot protect them.

On February 1, an unarmed African Union civilian³ police officer was shot dead and his vehicle stolen while on a routine patrol at Kassab IDP camp - home to 30,000 people.

The AU immediately ceased patrols to the camp, fearing for the lives of other unarmed officers.

Three weeks later, with the AU still unwilling⁴ to patrol, two Darfuri girls, ages eight and 10, were collecting firewood when they were abducted⁵ by three armed men who took them to an abandoned hut, made them remove their clothes and raped⁶ them.

When the AU resumed patrols, in early March, community leaders gathered to denounce the force for its absence.

"[For] more than four years, they have been repeating the issue of security but the situation is going from bad to worse," said Sheikh Tayyib Adam Nureldin.  "Nothing has been improved. The absence of security is going to create more problems."

AU Civilian Police Chief Ahmed El-Sarafy sought to calm angry community leaders, but he did not apologize for the AU pullout.

El-Sarafy tells VOA the AU had no other choice but to cease patrols, after the murder of the civilian police officer.

"This man was shot for no reason at all. They could have just taken the vehicle and gone. I think there was a message behind this. They don't want us anymore. Killing⁷ someone for no reason has to mean something," he said.

After the officer was shot, rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army, who have not signed the Darfur Peace Agreement, claimed responsibility for the incident and offered to hand the killer⁸ over to the African Union and return the stolen vehicle.

But the rebels later changed their story, claiming that they had found the vehicle with the keys in the ignition.

They returned the car, but refused to turn anyone over.

Those who suffered most in the wake of the incident were women and girls who no longer had the security provided by AU patrols.

Women are often targeted by men they call Janjaweed members of Arab militia⁹, widely believed to have been armed and supported by the Sudanese government, which used them as a force to crush a 2003 rebellion by African farmers.

Female officers from the AU civilian police interviewed the two rape victims, ages eight and 10 years old.

The younger girl covered her face with her scarf, as she spoke¹⁰, and would only look at the ground.

She says she and her companion were raped by three men.

The 10-year-old girl said the men warned her not to tell her mother.

Her mother spoke to VOA about the incident.

She says she did not see the men but that her daughter told her they wore the uniforms of soldiers.

Village leader Sheikh Mohamed Abdallah Juma told VOA that, if the men are caught, they should be hanged.

But for now, it seems justice for the young victims may be a long way off.

Only a tiny fraction of rape cases in Darfur have ever reached trial.

The African Union, back on patrol, continues to struggle to do its job in the face of increasing threats.

Wednesday, the African Union reported that two AU peacekeepers were shot dead by former rebels of the Sudan Liberation Army, led by Minni Minnawi.

Minnawi signed a peace agreement with the government of Sudan in May.

1 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

2 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

5 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

6 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

9 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。